Victoria Azarenka (Belarusian: Вікторыя Азарэнка, Азаранка, Russian: Виктория Азаренко; born July 31, 1989) is a tennis player from Minsk, Belarus, who became junior world champion in 2005. She won the 2007 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with her partner Max Mirnyi, and also finished runner-up at the 2007 Australian Open with him. She currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona and trains in Marbella, Spain. On May 19, 2008, she reached a career high of No. 17 in singles.

Career 2005

In 2005, Azarenka won the Australian Open and U.S. Open as a junior and was named the ITF Junior Girls World Champion for that year, the first player from Belarus to do so. She also won her first ITF title in Petange, Luxembourg in the same year.


In Guangzhou, China, she reached her first pro-level semifinal, winning three qualifying rounds and defeating Martina Sucha and Shuai Peng in the main draw before losing to eventual champion Yan Zi.

2006

In 2006, at the event in Memphis, Azarenka defeated her first top 20 player, Nicole Vaidisova, and two months later defeated her second top 30 player in Jelena Jankovic at Miami. On clay, Azarenka pushed 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina to 7–6 in the third in Rome and took clay-court specialist Anabel Medina Garrigues to 9–7 in the third set in the first round at Roland Garros. At the 2006 US Open, she had her first win over Myskina in the first round and lost to Anna Chakvetadze in the third round, her best result in a grand slam event to that date. In her next tournament, Azarenka reached her second pro-level semifinal in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, losing to Tiantian Sun. She finished the year reaching the final of an ITF event in Pittsburgh, losing to Aleksandra Wozniak....more Victoria Azarenka profile on Wikipedia


She is current No. 17 on Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Ranking List.


Victoria Azarenka's Gear:
Racquet: HEAD Flexpoint Instinct
Clothing: Nike
Shoes: Nike Air Zoom Mystify III


Victoria Azarenka profile on the WTA Tour's official website.

(via Wikipedia, photo/THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

Player Profile: Meet Victoria Azarenka